Condo prices in Seattle continue to speak to the strength of the real estate market

This well-maintained one bedroom in the International District has an open concept floorplan flooded with natural light. Views of the Sound, mountain and city views can be seen from the spacious private balcony, with secure parking and easy-acess to downtown, Interstate-90 and Interstate 5.

321 10th Ave. S., #617, listed for $398,000. See the full listing below.

This well-maintained one bedroom in the International District has an open concept floorplan flooded with natural light. Views of the Sound, mountain and city views can be seen from the spacious private

This well-maintained one bedroom in the International District has an open concept floorplan flooded with natural light. Views of the Sound, mountain and city views can be seen from the spacious private balcony, with secure parking and easy-acess to downtown, Interstate-90 and Interstate 5.

321 10th Ave. S., #617, listed for $398,000. See the full listing below.

This well-maintained one bedroom in the International District has an open concept floorplan flooded with natural light. Views of the Sound, mountain and city views can be seen from the spacious private

The market is definitely slowing within the city (if not Thurston County), but that doesn't mean that prices have dipped all that much. The median closed sale price fell by about $45,000 from the month before, but it was still up $30,000 from the same time last year, according to the latest Northwest Multiple Listing Service report.

There's still a lot of good news for buyers -- perhaps namely that the bidding wars have dipped, and sellers are being met with a slightly more equitable playing field -- but it's not exactly like home ownership is suddenly attainable.

As the NWMLS report writes, nearly 60 percent of the current inventory of homes and condos has an asking price of $750,000 or higher, making affordability an ongoing concern. And while the single-family home is still king in Seattle and King County, condos are also seeing higher prices.

The median closed sale price for condos in Seattle during August (the last month for which information was available) was $504,500. That's a 6.21 percent increase from the same time last year.

Area-wide, that jump looks more like 8.1 percent, while across King County the jump in median condo prices was 11.3 percent.

Some good news is that condo prices are going through the same market-wide cool down as single-family homes: Active listings jumped nearly 58 percent, and closed transactions dropped off by about 15 percent.

"Even with some doom and gloom about sales being down in many counties, inventory doubling in some areas, and appreciation holding at around 8 percent for the year, our market is still very healthy and recovering from the depleted inventory of the past three years," George Moorhead, designated broker and owner, Bentley Properties, Bothell said in the report.